Cardiothoracic Research
Cardiothoracic Research
CARDIOTHORACIC RESEARCH
The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery is heavily invested into innovative science through a broad range of research interests. Our faculty support basic, clinical, and translational laboratories to promote our mission of meaningful engagement in academia. In these pages, you will see the diverse areas of scientific endeavors that are accessible to our trainees, research fellows, graduate students, and faculty.
The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery is committed to promoting an environment conducive to cutting-edge technology, training of the next generation of surgical-scientists, and moving our field forward.
PUBLICATIONS
Our cardiothoracic research team advances discovery and clinical impact across adult cardiac surgery, congenital and pediatric cardiology, translational science, and thoracic surgery. Featured here are select recent publications that reflect our multidisciplinary approach, spanning outcomes research, innovative surgical techniques, and translational insights that inform patient-centered care across the lifespan. Click the "+" (plus) sign to explore a few recent publications per section.
- Tonna J. E. (2025). We Really Do Think Early Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Is Best, But May Never Prove It. Critical care medicine, 53(11), e2363–e2365. (Link)
- Mitchell, G., Javan, H., Nickel, I., Valdez, S., Palatinus, J. A., Szulik, M., Eberhardt, D., Franklin, S., Chaudhuri, D., Skliar, M., Ripoll, C. V., Pierce, J., & Selzman, C. H. (2025). Intravenous acellular human amniotic fluid prevents ischemic cardiac remodeling. Scientific reports, 15(1), 44725. (Link)
- Welt, F. G. P., & Glotzbach, J. P. (2025). Evolution of TAVR as a Technology: Do Real-World Outcomes Still Support Expanded Use?. Circulation, 151(16), 1147–1149. (Link)
- Schäfer, M., Eckhauser, A., Hobbs, R., Griffiths, E., Sharma, V., Carvajal, H., Dzelebdzic, S., Binka, E., & Husain, S. A. (2025). Left Ventricular Functional Changes after Ross Procedure in Children and Adolescents. Pediatric cardiology, 10.1007/s00246-025-04124-9. Advance online publication. (Link)
- Stadinski, B. D., Mills, E. A., Humphries, P. A., Cleveland, S. B., Dow, P., Murakami, K., Li, Y. R., Murakami, M., Ono, M., Au-Yeung, B. B., Morris, G. P., Zúñiga-Pflücker, J. C., Campbell, R. A., Griffiths, E. R., Huseby, E. S., & Lo, W. L. (2025). Age-dependent Zap70 expression in thymocytes regulates selection of the neonatal regulatory T cell repertoire. Nature immunology, 26(12), 2256–2269. (Link)
- Bahrami, P., Aromolaran, K. A., & Aromolaran, A. S. (2025). Proarrhythmic Lipid Inflammatory Mediators: Mechanisms in Obesity Arrhythmias. Journal of cellular physiology, 240(2), e70012. (Link)
- Offei, E., Yazaki, K., Ishidoya, Y., Castillo, M. S. R., Vaziri, A. Y., Shah, A., Dosdall, D. J., & Khan, M. S. (2025). Left Bundle Branch Area Pacing Preserves Mechanical Strain and Synchrony Compared to Right Ventricular Apical Pacing in an Acute Paired Preclinical Model. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2025.11.27.690903. (Link)
- Varghese T. K., Jr (2025). Honoring Our Past, Shaping the Future: A New Mission for the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 241(5), 739–740. (Link)
- Kneuertz, P. J., Mostellar, R., Merritt, R. E., Servais, E. L., Mitzman, B., Villamizar, N. R., Tapias, L. F., Lazar, J. F., D'Souza, D. M., Oh, D. S., & Jackson, G. P. (2025). Force in robotic thoracic surgery -a one year analysis of DaVinci 5 force feedback. Journal of robotic surgery, 19(1), 632. (Link)
GRANTS
Recently awarded grants support innovative cardiothoracic research across adult cardiac, congenital-pediatric/translational, and thoracic programs, advancing discovery and patient-centered care.
- “2025 TSF Every Heartbeat Matters Award” Principal Investigator: Craig Selzman, MD. For surgical outreach work in Honduras in the amount of $35,000. This grant is made possible by the support of the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation.
- “Physiology of Unloading VA ECMO Trial” Principal Investigator: Joseph Tonna, MD, MS, FCCM, FACEP, FAAEM. NIH RO1 awarded for 4 years. 2024-2027
- “A Multi-Center Trial to Access the Safety and Effectiveness of a Bioresorbable Tracheobronchial Splint in pediatric Subjects with Clinically Significant Tracheobronchomalacia” Sub-I/Site PI: Reilly Hobbs, MD. University of Michigan SubAward.
- “Channelopathies of Inflammation” Principal Investigator: Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, PhD. NIH RO1 awarded for 4 years. 2025-2028.
- “Leukotriene B4 Regulation in Heart” Principal Investigator: Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, PhD. NIH RO1 awarded for 5 years. 2024-2029
CLINICAL TRIALS
This small selection of active clinical trials highlights our cardiothoracic research across adult cardiac, congenital-pediatric/translational, and thoracic specialties, advancing discoveries that improve patient outcomes.
- “Investigation of a Novel, magnetically levitated VAD for the treatment of refractory left Ventricular heart failure (INNOVATE Trial)” Multisite clinical trial. Site Principal Investigator: Craig Selzman, MD
- (ClinicalTrials.gov) (BrioHealth)
- “A Global Post Market Evaluation of Terumo Aortic Endovascular Grafts (TiGER 001)” Multisite clinical trial. Site Principal Investigator: Jason Glotzbach, MD
- (ClinicalTrials.gov)
- “Randomized comparison of the clinical Outcome of single versus Multiple Arterial grafts: the ROMA trial.” Multisite clinical trial. Site Principal Investigator: Matt Goodwin, MD
- (ClinicalTrials.gov)
RESEARCH LABS
Explore the three research labs: The Selzman laboratory is part of a multi-disciplinary, multi-departmental group focused on understanding both the failing and recovering heart. The McKellar lab is actively studying the mechanisms associated with right ventricular failure and recovery. The Dosdall laboratory is working to determine the role of fibrosis in conduction disturbances and the development of atrial fibrillation. He is also studying the role of the specialized conduction system in the ventricles and the onset and maintenance of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias.
The Dosdall lab utilizes cardiac mapping techniques to investigate the onset, maintenance, and treatments for cardiac arrhythmias. Specific areas of emphasis include understanding the mechanisms of irregular arrhythmias such as atrial and ventricular fibrillation and developing improved translational therapies for avoiding and terminating them.
The Selzman laboratory is part of a multi-disciplinary, multi-departmental group focused on understanding both the failing and recovering heart.
The Selzman lab is housed within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the University of Utah Molecular Medicine (U2M2) and is located in the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics.
The Aromolaran laboratory focuses on elucidating how normal cardiac electrical and biophysical properties are altered in obesity and associated pathologies (diabetes, inflammation, and libotoxicity).
The Aromolaran lab is housed within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research & Training Institute (CVRTI).
The Guo Laboratory’s research is focused on deciphering the pathogenicity of genetic variants in cardiovascular diseases. With the development of medical genetics and low-cost, rapid DNA sequencing technologies, a large number of genetic variants associated with cardiovascular diseases have been identified and released in population databases including ClinVar, ClinVar Miner, dbSNP, Exome sequencing project, 1000Genomes, and Human Gene Mutation Database. However, about 40% of total variants known as variants of uncertain significance, are still not clearly defined to be classified as pathogenic or benign. This gap in knowledge significantly obstructs potential widespread clinical application of the genetic information and causes anxiety and stress to genetic variant carriers. In addition, most of cardiovascular diseases are polygenic diseases that result from the additive inheritance of multiple genetic variants at different loci alongside interactions with environmental factors, culminating in an affected disease phenotype. Thus, our laboratory is thriving to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases and develop precise prevention and treatment for genetic variants carriers. We utilize computational and biological systems such as stem cells, animal models, and human samples to address these questions.
RESEARCHERS
Meet the researchers on our cardiothoracic team and learn more about their expertise, ongoing work, and contributions across adult cardiac, congenital-pediatric, translational, and thoracic research.
Dr. Aromolaran’s research is focused on ion channel (K, Ca, Na) electrophysiology and elucidating cellular mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias due to inherited mutations in channel subunits or acquired in metabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes, lipotoxicity, inflammation). He has published his research in numerous scientific journals and has been funded by both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Institute of Health (NIH). Dr. Aromolaran has served on review boards, institutional committees, and AHA and NIH study sections. He has served as co-director of the NHLBI-funded program to increase diversity in cardiovascular research and is currently actively involved in training and mentoring students and early career investigators from different research backgrounds.
Some of his current projects include:
- “Channelopathies of Inflammation” NIH RO1 awarded for 4 years. 2025-2028.
- “Leukotriene B4 Regulation in Heart” NIH RO1 awarded for 5 years. 2024-2029
- Investigator-initiated Clinical research:
- Inflammation – Collection and Maintenance of Tissues Collected: collection of tissues and blood of cardiac patients for genetic testing and long-term research.
Dr. Bateson is actively engaged in clinical research with a focus on:
- Blood conservation in congenital heart surgery
- Advanced mechanical circulatory support
- Heart failure and transplantation outcomes
- National and international quality improvement database projects
- Through his research and clinical practice, he is dedicated to developing surgical techniques and perioperative strategies that improve survival, reduce complications, and enhance long-term outcomes for patients of all ages with congenital and acquired heart disease.
Dr. Contreras’ research areas of interest focus on:
- Esophageal cancer
- Thoracic oncology
- Lung transplantation
- Bioethics
Some of his current projects include:
- “Structured Physical Therapy in Practicing Cardiothoracic Surgeons.” PI initiated study.
Dr. Dosdall has always been fascinated my medical technology. His research focuses on the interface between engineering and medicine to develop translational technologies and devices to understand heart problems and develop treatments to improve quality and duration of life. His research interests are focused on mapping of cardiac arrhythmias. He has developed chronic animal models of atrial fibrillation to investigate the substrate and conduction changes that occur in the cardiac tissue over time. He is working to determine the role of fibrosis in conduction disturbances and the development of atrial fibrillation. He is also studying the role of the specialized conduction system in the ventricles and the onset and maintenance of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias.
Some of his current projects include:
- “The role of fibrosis distribution in abnormal atrial conduction patterns.” NETF grant awardee
- “Novel Gene Therapy for Chronic Ischemic Heart Failure.” NIH RO1 awarded for 4 years 2024-2027
- “Antitachycardia pacing and improved lead for ventricular conduction system stimulation.” NIH RO1 awarded for 10 years 2015-2026.
Dr. Glotzbach has a strong interest in clinical and translational research related to aortic disease. His work has emphasized aortic pathology, including aortic dissection and aortic aneurysm, utilizing both traditional open surgery and endovascular stent-graft procedures. Currently, Dr. Glotzbach focuses on filling in the knowledge gap of the causative clinical factors and genomic variants associated with the development and progression of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and BAV aortopathy. He participates in several research projects investigating the genetic basis of aortic aneurysms and dissections. In addition, Dr. Glotzbach is a site Principal Investigator for several multisite clinical trials and has several PI-initiated trials. He has published extensively in many areas of basic science and surgical literature.
Research focus:
- Aortic disease
- Aortic pathology
- Congenital bicuspid aortic valve disease
- Structural heart valve disease
- Genetic components to aortic diseases
Some of his current projects include:
- “Towards Precision Medicine for Thoracic Aortic Disease: Defining the Clinical and Genomic Drivers of Bicuspid Aortopathy.” NIH K08 awarded for 5 years 2023-2027
- “Thoraflex Hybrid and Relay Extension Post-Approval Study (EXTEND 001)” Sponsored, multisite, long-term clinical observational study. Site-PI
- A Global Post Market Evaluation of Terumo Aortic Endovascular Grafts (TiGER 001)” Sponsored, multisite, long-term clinical observational study. Site-PI
- Western Aortic Collaboration (WAC): Multisite collaboration for an open communication pathway for surgeons to discuss real patient issues in real time and to combine results to determine optimal approaches for aortic surgery
- PI initiated research:
- Aortic biobank – tissue collection of aortic aneurysm and dissection surgeries as well as other CV surgical procedures for genetic analysis and understanding of aortopathy
- Aortic registry – retrospectively investigate the compliance with and success of chronic dissection treatment and imaging follow-up within the University of Utah Aortic Disease Program
- Bicuspid Aortic Valve and First-Degree Relatives
- Relay Branch Thoracic Stent-Graft Compassionate Use Study
- Elucidating Familial Inheritance Patterns of Bicuspid Aortic Valve Associated Aortopathy
- Aortic biobank – tissue collection of aortic aneurysm and dissection surgeries as well as other CV surgical procedures for genetic analysis and understanding of aortopathy
Dr. Goodwin’s research interests include: Vascular tone and endothelial remodeling in heart failure and pulmonary hypertension, valvular heart disease in advanced heart failure, and mechanical circulatory support in decompensated heart failure and cardiogenic shock.
Some of his current projects include:
- “Randomized comparison of the clinical outcome of single versus multiple arterial grafts (ROMA women Trial)”: Multisite clinical randomization trial, Sub Site-PI
- “Revascularization Choices Among Under-Represented Groups Evaluation (The RECHARGE Trial)”: Multisite clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
- “Encompass clamp and the AtriClip in Box lesion and left atrial appendage exclusion procedure for the prevention of new onset of atrial fibrillation (BoxX-NoAF Trial)”: Multisite IDE trial, Sub Site-PI
Dr. Griffiths’ research interests are focused on the long-term effects of single ventricle palliation, improving ventricular assist device outcomes, myocardial recovery, and transplantation.
Some of his current projects include:
- “1/2 Circulatory Support in Pediatric Heart Failure Patients Using the Jarvik 2015 LVAD: A Pivotal Trial” NIH subsite award, Sub Site-PI
Dr. Guo’s research is focused on deciphering the genetic mechanisms underlying cardiovascular development and cardiac diseases. His lab operates in an interdisciplinary research environment, encompassing molecular and stem cell biology, cardiac physiology, genetics, and bioinformatics. They employ cutting-edge technologies including CRISPR screening, single-cell sequencing, human 2D and 3D stem cell models, and animal studies to gain broader insights into the genetic understanding of normal and pathological heart function with the goal of identifying innovative treatments and diagnostics for patients. Dr. Guo has published his research in numerous scientific journals, including Cell, Science Translational Medicine, Development Cell, and Stem Cell Reports. In addition, Dr. Guo is funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) K99/R00 career development award. He is also highly supportive of trainees’ career development.
Some of his current projects include:
- “Delineating the Genetic Susceptibility of Smoking-Induced vascular Dysfunction” NIH ROO awarded for 5 years 2021-2025
- “Targeting Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 in Smoking-Induced Coronary Artery Disease” Geneen Trust awarded for 2 years
- “Deciphering pathogenic variants in congenital heart disease” NETF grant
- PI initiated Clinical studies:
- “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Reprogramming in Heart Disease Patients and Healthy Controls.”
- Examining smoking-induced vascular dysfunction with human genetic variants”
- “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Reprogramming in Heart Disease Patients and Healthy Controls.”
Dr. Haase has extensive clinical and research experience in resuscitation and extracorporeal life support (ECLS,) and successfully led both the Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) Fellowship and Critical Care Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) Program while at Maryland. He continues to apply his expertise in these fields through research, program development, and the education of the next generation of intensivists.
Dr. Hobbs’ research interests span both clinical and basic sciences. Clinically, his work focuses on improving outcomes for children with congenital heart disease. In the laboratory, his investigations center on the mechanisms of organ-specific cellular death, immune pathways involved in the clearance of cellular debris, and the identification of biomarkers with potential clinical applications.
Some of his current projects include:
- “A multi-center trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of a bioresorbable tracheobronchial splint in pediatric subjects with clinically significant tracheobronchomalacia” Multisite, Sub Site-PI
Dr. Husain’s current research interests are in the areas of single ventricle physiology, surgical technical training as well as multi-institutional initiatives to drive consensus approaches towards the care of congenital heart disease. His primary clinical focus is on neonatal cardiac surgery and the patient and family experience within the inpatient setting. He also has a strong interest and significant experience in international humanitarian surgical mission work and takes a team overseas each year to provide congenital heart surgical care to underserved populations.
Some of his current projects include:
- “1/2 Allogeneic Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) Injection in Patients with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A Phase IIb Clinical Trial” NIH Sub award, Sub Site-PI
- “Allogenic human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) injection in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome: a phase I/II study (ELPIS)” Multisite sponsored clinical trial. Sub Site-PI
Dr. Mitzman’s research interests focus on clinical outcomes and optimizing treatment approaches for lung and esophageal cancer. He has specific expertise in cost-effectiveness and determining the appropriate balance of cost and innovation in surgical technology. His research has been presented at both the Society for Thoracic Surgeons and the American Association of Thoracic Surgery annual meetings. He has also been an invited author on numerous textbook chapters utilized by both trainees and practicing thoracic surgeons. Dr. Mitzman is currently the Associate Physician Lead for Thoracic Clinical Trials in the HCI Clinical Trials Research Group, bringing the most cutting-edge treatments to patients with both early and advanced thoracic malignancies.
Some of his current projects include:
- “Equity Implications of Lung Cancer Screening Strategies for Population Health: a Distributional Cost-Effectiveness Analysis” NIH R21 sub award
- “A Phase III, Randomized, Open-label, Global Study of Adjuvant Datopotamab Deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) in Combination With Rilvegostomig or Rilvegostomig Monotherapy Versus Standard of Care, Following Complete Tumor Resection, in Participants With Stage I Adenocarcinoma Non-small Cell Lung Cancer who are ctDNA-positive or Have High-risk Pathological Features (TROPION-Lung12)” Sponsored Clinical Trial, Sub Site-PI
- “A Premarket Retrospective Multicenter Study for Intuitive 3D Models (I3DM), During Simulated Preoperative Surgical Planning for Anatomic Lung Resection and Lower Anterior Resection Procedures” Sponsored educational project, Sub Site-PI
Dr. Selzman is heavily involved with clinical research related to advanced heart failure, transplantation, and ventricular assist devices. He also has an active basic science collaboration with many of our researchers here at the University of Utah and is an Inverstigator at the Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute. Dr. Selzman is one of a handful of cardiothoracic surgeons that runs a translational science laboratory historically funded by the National Institute of Health. His research focus is related to examining mechanisms of heart recovery and ischemia-reperfusion injury. His laboratory is focused on transcriptional regulation and mechanisms of myocardial recovery. His team uses several models for investigation ranging from individual cardiomyocytes to transgenic mice as well as larger translational studies in sheep, goats, and humans. In addition to his clinical and research responsibilities here at the University of Utah, Dr. Selzman carries many national and international positions including NIH study sections, Thoracic Transplantation committees, and professional organizational responsibilities.
As a Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the School of Medicine at the University of Utah, Dr. Selzman is heavily invested in the future of our next generation of physicians and surgeons. He is actively involved with medical student teaching, general surgical education, and training of young cardiac surgeons. He has been involved with educational strategies at the national level through his professional societies. Dr. Selzman has mentored dozens of trainees- both in the clinical and basic sciences – over the last 20+ years, many which currently hold faculty positions in academic medical centers.
Some of his current projects include:
- “Trial to evaluate safety and effectiveness of mechanical circulatory support in patients with advancing heart failure (TEAM HF)”: Sponsored multisite trial, Sub Site-PI
- “ Implantation of the HeartMate 3 in subjects with heart failure using surgical techniques other than full median sternotomy (HM3 SWIFT)”: Post-market multisite sponsored clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
- “ Investigation of a novel, magnetically levitated VAD for the treatment of refractory left ventricular heart failure (INNOVATE Trial)”: Sponsored multisite trial, Sub Site-PI
- “Honduras” Thoracic Surgery Foundation (TSF) Every Heartbeat Matters Award
- “Anticoagulation for new-onset post-operative atrial fibrillation after CABG (PACeS Trial)”: Sponsored multisite trial, Sub Site-PI
- “A Prospective, global study designed to collect real-world clinical outcomes of the MITRIS RESILIA mitral valve – North America (MOMENTIS) No. 2022-09” (the “Trial”) Sponsored multisite trial, Sub Site-PI
- “ARTEMIS: RAvulizumab to PRotect PaTients with Chronic Kidney DisEase (CKD) from Cardiac Surgery Associated Acute Kidney Injury (CSA-AKI) and Subsequent Major Adverse Kidney Events (MAKE): A Phase 3, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter Study” Sponsored multisite clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
- PI initiated:
- Human Amniotic Membrane for Pericardium Substitute in Cardiac Surgery Patients, Randomized clinical study
- Collection and maintenance of Discard Tissues form Cardiothoracic Surgeries, Umbrella IRB to collect tissues in CT surgeries
- Human Amniotic Membrane for Pericardium Substitute in Cardiac Surgery Patients, Randomized clinical study
Dr. Sharma serves as the Co-director of the Robotic Cardiac Surgery Program with a focus on Valvular interventions. He is also the surgical lead of the University of Utah arrhythmia surgery program with a focus on minimally invasive options for atrial fibrillation, i.e., Convergence Procedure. He specializes in Adult Congenital Heart Disease with an interest in complex preoperative interventions and Ross Procedure. He is also Co-director of the multidisciplinary structural heart team, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), MitraClip, Triclip, and Evolve. Dr. Sharma is the value officer for the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and has a strong interest in value-based care and outcome research. He has published extensively and is involved in several industry-driven trials.
Some of his current projects include:
- “Transcatheter aortic valve replacement with the Medtronic transcatheter aortic valve replacement system in patients at low risk for surgical aortic valve replacement” Sponsored multisite clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
- “Left atrial appendage exclusion for prophylactic stroke reduction trial (LeAAPS Trial)” Sponsored multisite clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
Dr. Joseph E. Tonna, MD, MS, FCCM, FACEP, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah. He is the Section Head of Cardiothoracic Critical Care, the Associate Director of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Services, and has previously served as the Medical Director of the Cardiovascular ICU, where he continues to attend clinically. He is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His clinical and research interests include clinical trials of rescue therapies in critically ill patients and is a leading international expert in the use and management of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). He has expertise in emergency medicine, ECMO, mechanical circulatory support devices (IABP/Impella/VAD), cardiogenic shock, heart failure, and post-cardiothoracic surgery care.
He has an active research practice in ECMO that is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, multiple book chapters, and lectured internationally on ECMO. He is an active teacher of students, residents, trainees, and junior faculty. His clinical and research interests include extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), delirium prevention, and sleep and mobility enhancement. He is the Chair of the Registry of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), the world's largest international ECMO organization. He has served as an expert witness and consultant on the appropriate conduct of emergency medicine, on the use of ECMO and ECMO patient management, critical care, and patient therapy/mobility, with particular expertise in cases of acute cardiogenic shock, heart failure/cardiomyopathy, respiratory failure, pneumonia, cardiac arrest/sudden death, shock, post-operative care, post-cardiothoracic surgery care, resuscitation, ECPR, IABP, Impella, pVAD, heart transplant, lung transplant, and renal/kidney failure.
Some of his current projects include:
- PI initiated Clinical studies:
- “Patient reported outcomes and physical function after ECMO”
- “VV/VA ECMO Database”
- “National survey of US physicians on the use of ECMO for cardiogenic shock”
- “Physiology of Unloading VA ECMO Trial” NIH RO1 Funded, multisite trial, Principal Investigator
- “Patient reported outcomes and physical function after ECMO”
- “Influence of cooling duration on efficacy in cardiac arrest patients (ICECAP) Trial” Sponsored Multisite clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
- “Patterns of Survivors’ Recovery trajectories in the ICECAP Trial (POST-ICECAP)”: Sponsored multisite clinical trial, Sub Site-PI
- “ECMO-Free Trial: A multicenter Plot Feasibility Study”: Multisite trial, Sub-Site PI
- “Extracorporeal resuscitation outcomes database (EROD)”
- “International research database for extracorporeal support (INDEX)”
Dr. Varghese’s research interests bridge the world of Educational Research and Health Services Research, specifically in the arena of optimizing performance at the patient, surgeon and system levels. He created the Strong for Surgery program while he was at the University of Washington, which is now a formal Quality Improvement program of the American College of Surgeons, and active at 331 clinical sites across the nation and 3 state surgical collaboratives ( https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/strong-for-surgery ). He has a track record of peer-reviewed publications and extramural funding, including current RO1 funding from the National Cancer Institute with Co-PIs Dr. Neli Ulrich (Dept. of Population Sciences) and Dr. Paul LaStayo (Dept. of Physical Therapy) for a pragmatic randomized clinical trial examining the effects of a unique Prescription Exercise Prescription (PEP) for lung cancer surgical patients utlizing an integrated Physical Therapy Clinic model (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30559162 )
Some of his current projects include:
- “Business Chemistries in a General Surgery Department”: PI initiated
RESOURCES
To learn more about current research opportunities or to collaborate with someone in our Division, please contact Dr. Selzman and Margaret Carlson.
For principal investigators, feel free to reach out to Margaret Carlson for more information regarding research start-up, collaboration, or guidance.
For more resources, please visit the Department of Surgery and Resources page.